Abstract
The impact of extreme weather events on the navigation environment in the inland waterways of the Yangtze River is an interdisciplinary hotspot in subjects of maritime traffic safety and maritime meteorology, and it is also a difficult point for the implementation of decision-making and management by maritime and meteorological departments in China. The objective of this study is to review the variation trends and distribution patterns in the periods of adverse and extreme weather events that are expected to impact on inland waterways transport (IWT) on the Yangtze River. The frequency of severe weather events, together with the changes in their spatial extension and intensity, is analyzed based on the ERA-Interim datasets (1979–2017) and the GHCNDEX dataset (1979–2017), as well as the research progresses and important events (2004–2016) affecting the navigation environment. The impacts of extreme weather events on IWT accidents and phenomena of extreme weather (e.g., thunderstorms, lightning, hail, and tornadoes) that affect the navigation environment are also analyzed and discussed. The results show that: (1) the sections located in the plain climate zone is affected by extreme weather in every season, especially strong winds and heat waves; (2) the sections located in the hilly mountain climate zone is affected particularly by spring extreme phenomena, especially heat waves; (3) the sections located in the Sichuan Basin climate zone is dominated by the extreme weather phenomena in autumn, except cold waves; (4) the occurrence frequency of potential flood risk events is relatively high under rainstorm conditions and wind gusts almost affect the navigation environment of the Jiangsu and Shanghai sections in every year; (5) the heat wave indices (TXx, TR, and WSDI) tend to increase and the temperature of the coldest day of the year gradually increases; (6) the high occurrences of IWT accidents need to be emphasized by relevant departments, caused by extreme weather during the dry season; and (7) the trends and the degree of attention of extreme weather events affecting IWT are ranked as: heat wave > heavy rainfall > wind gust > cold spell > storm. Understanding the seasonal and annual frequency of occurrence of extreme weather events has reference significance for regional management of the Yangtze River.
Highlights
The Yangtze River passes through five spectacular canyons and nine provinces, the inland waterway is divided into upper- middle, and lower reaches [1]
From 1880 to 2012, global warming caused rapid global land and ocean surface temperatures to rise by 0.85 ◦ C, and more frequent extreme weather events, and extreme weather has led to natural disasters that endanger human life and destroy the human living environment [6]
The impact of extreme weather events on the navigable environment of the YRIW has become a focus of research and attention in shipping, meteorology, transportation, and management science
Summary
The Yangtze River passes through five spectacular canyons and nine provinces, the inland waterway is divided into upper- middle-, and lower reaches [1]. After reaching the large city of Chongqing, at 630 feet above sea level, it passes through the very large Changjiang plain, and can sail large ships, which is in the middle-lower reaches of the Yangtze River [3]. IWT has experienced the significant impact of complex weather events over the past few decades, affecting infrastructure of inland waterways and the navigable environment [5]. The navigable conditions of the Yangtze River were comparatively rough during the dry seasons, Extreme dry weather can reduce runoff and water level, causing limited ship carrying capacity and sailing time, and long-term low temperatures can cause icing on the waterways, triggering stoppages and infrastructure damage [8]. A very large number of extreme weather impact studies at the YRIW level have been conducted, mostly for individual weather hazards, such as heat waves [11,12], river floods [13,14], streamflow droughts [15,16], and storms [17]
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